Celebrity Traitors’ Julie Hesmondhalgh ‘proud’ of trans role but ‘couldn’t do it now’
Julie Hesmondhalgh played trans character Hayley Cropper in ‘Coronation Street’ (YouTube/Coronation Street)
For many people in the UK, actress Julie Hesmondhalgh is still one of the best known examples of trans representation on mainstream television.
From 1998 to 2014, the cisgender star played Hayley Cropper in Coronation Street. Hayley was the first permanent transgender character to appear in a soap, and during her years on the ITV show Hesmondhalgh won a number of awards for the role.
It was confirmed over the weekend that Hesmondhalgh will be returning to screens for the second series of Celebrity Traitors – and we can’t wait to see her camping it up in the Scottish castle.
And as we enter Trans+ History Week (4-10 May), we wanted to take a trip down memory lane and remember how she brought some much-needed, positive trans representation to the British public.
Speaking on a 2022 episode of ITV talk show Lorraine, Hesmondhalgh said she was “proud” of playing loveable Hayley, as “the press were absolutely awful about those issues”.
She went on: “As a cisgender person, I wouldn’t be able to play that part now, so it’s kind of good that I left when I did.”
Hesmondhalgh, who has appeared in queer shows such as Cucumber and Banana, added: “There are so many good trans actors now. But I’m proud that I played that part.”
Who is on Celebrity Traitors series 2?
Over the weekend, the full cast of Celebrity Traitors series two was confirmed in a teaser video from the BBC – and it’s set to be a big one.
The group heading to Scotland to film this time, alongside Julie Hesmondhalgh, are Amol Rajan, Bella Ramsey, Hannah Fry, James Acaster, James Blunt, Jerry Hall, Joanne McNally, Joe Lycett, King Kenny, Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Maya Jama, Michael Sheen, Miranda Hart, Myha’la, Richard E Grant, Rob Beckett, Romesh Ranganathan, Ross Kemp, Sebastian Croft and Sharon Rooney.
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